@sanjibasenji 'Roam' is hardly the word - sprint, race - disappear like magic. Yes. In the wood I follow narrow paths and they follow wherever a scent leads them. I know the direction they have disappeared in but seldom guess correctly from whence they will emerge. They could have done a complete circuit and come up behind me.
The important thing is that my whistle is sharp and piercing and they know it means, Mom wants us back.
If it is raining or desperately muddy (I use a walking pole because I don't want to fall over !) then I may be forced to follow the main trails which are wider and some are even kind of cobble-stones. It is a working forest and there has to be access for huge trucks to bear away the timber - enormous piles of logs by the side of the main routes through.
Weekends, like this morning, the carpark is full by 10 am but once away from it it is possible to avoid meeting anyone. On weekdays, there are quite a few people we have come to know over the years, 8.30 - 9.00 am walkers. Many of them I know the names of the dogs and have no idea what their owners are called ! My boys love to chase with the ones they know will oblige and we can stand and chat while they race around. I only learned on Thursday, after standing while a man with about a dozen Whippets admired my boys, that one is prohibited from walking more than 6 dogs at a time.
Didn't know that when Marvin and I walked those same woods back in 1987 after a hurricane decimated woodland in the South East.
I have been going there for a long, long time - it is entirely safe from traffic, once you are away from the carpark. The wild-life is rabbits, deer, squirrels and birds (Kito would love to fly !) and so yes, the boys know that if Mom sits on a fallen tree or one of the rare benches, they get a treat. 'Biscuit at the Bench' is something they have learned and they foregather and stay close, waiting for me to arrive at these havens !
